Foot shank pad



oer. 7, 1969 P GLIANO 3,470,880

FOOT SHANK PAD Filed Oct. 13, 1967 F71- 6a 1 o 35 fif :1; iv 26 W e/V702 JOHN D. PAGL/ANO BY EDWARD D. O'BR/AA/ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,470,880 FOOT SHANK PAD John D. Pagliano, 632 S. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005 Filed Oct. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 675,158 Int. Cl. A61f /14 US. Cl. 128619 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The foot shank pad comprises a cover of such shape and size as to fit within a shoe and a shank pad positioned under the cover fitting over the shank portion of the shoe. When positioned in a shoe, the shank pad is positioned so that its rear edge is adjacent the front of the wearers heel to provide an anchor for the heel. The shank pad portion is positioned under the transverse middle portion of the foot to prevent the transverse middle portion from dropping when weight is applied and as weight is transferred forward on the foot during walking.

BACKGROUND This invention is directed to a foot shank pad and is thus directed to those classes of devices which improve the fit of factory manufactured shoes to individual feet. The foot shank pad is thus an orthopedic device for installation within and over the shank portion of a shoe to properly position the foot within the shoe. It is particularly useful in womens shoes which have at least a moderate heel.

Foot cushioning devices of various natures are well known in the prior art. Most of these devices are directed to support of the longitudinal arch of the foot and are positioned to support either or both the inner or outer longitudinal arch. Other arch support devices are related to the metatarsal arch, and are variously related to shoe construction in order to maintain the metatarsal arch support in place. There are also the combination of longitudinal and metatarsal arch suporting devices positioned to support the longitudinal as well as metatarsal arches. However, these are provided as arch supports and thus support the arches rather than to raise the transverse middle portion of the foot to prevent it from dropping. When the transverse middle portion of the foot drops as walking moves the load from heel to the anterior portion of the foot, as is usual with a lack of support through the transverse middle plane of the foot, the anterior portion moves forward. Raising the transverse middle portion of the foot, by the foot shank pad of this invention prevents the lowering of the transverse middle portion of the foot to thus prevent or minimize this elongation.

SUMMARY This invention is directed to a foot shank pad and particularly a pad which is positionable with respect to the foot and with respect to the shank portion of the shoe so that it provides an anchor for the heel of the foot and raises the transverse middle portion of the foot. This is accomplished by cover material which is positioned under the heel and pad material which is positioned under the transverse middle portion of the foot. Raising of the transverse middle portion of the foot, so it does not drop as load is applied thereto, prevents the anterior portion of the foot from moving forward.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a foot shank pad which both anchors the heel and raises the transverse middle portion of the foot so that movement of the anterior portion of the foot with the shoe is prevented to thus prevent binding of the shoe around the toes and to prevent stretching and elongation of the "ice foot. It is a further object of this invention to provide a foot shank pad which provides for comfortable wearing, particularly in womens shoes having at least moderate heel height, for in these shoes it is particularly necessary to anchor the foot to prevent its sliding forward. It is another object of this invention to provide a foot shank pad which is economic of manufacturing and of substantially universal use so that it may be used in a large number of shapes and sizes of shoes to provide the heel anchor and the raising of the transverse middle foot portion. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following portion of this specification, the claims and the attached drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of a shoe showing the foot shank pad of this invention positioned therein.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged and projected top plan view of the foot shank pad showing it positioned with respect to a shoe shown in dotted lines.

FIGURE 3 is a section taken generally along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIGURE 4 is a section taken generally along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings, the foot shank pad is generally indicated at 10. In FIGURE 1 and pad 10 is shown as being installed in a shoe 12 and the shoe 12 is illustrated in dotted lines in FIGURE 2. The shoe 12 comprises upper 14, sole 16 and heel 18. As is illustrated, the foot shank pad 10 is of greater utility in womens shoes so that the heel 18 is illustrated as being a moderately high heel, although the foot shank pad 10 is useful where the heel is somewhat lower than that illustrated. Steel shank 20 is inserted in the shank of the shoe and may be inserted into the sole or positioned above it. Shank 20 maintains the shape of the arch in the shoe to prevent breakdown between the heel 18 and the point where sole 16 contacts the supporting surface 22 under the ball of the foot. An inner sole 24 is positioned interiorly of the shoe to provide padding and a smooth wear surface. As is illustrated, inner sole 24 may comprise a resilient padding layer of felt or foamed material together with a smooth cover layer which permits the foot to be easily inserted into the shoe.

The foot shank pad 10 comprises a pad 26 and cover material 28. Cover material 28 is cut to such an outline that it extends substantially across the entire inner sole from side to side in the shoe and over the entire heel area within the shoe and extends forward toward and stops short of the position where the ball of the foot contacts the shoe and thus is short of the base of the metatarsal arch of th efoot. The cover material 28 preferably comprises a smooth cover 30, which is usually a polymer composition material in sheet form, and beneath the cover 30 is a layer of cushion material 32. The cushion 32 is a relatively thin layer of foamed material, such as foamed synthetic polymer composition material, for example, polyurethane. Positioned underneath the cover 30, and between the ends thereof is pad 26. Pad 26 is again preferably of foamed synthetic polymer composition material such as polyurethane. Pad 26 is of uniform thickness and has a planar top 34 which is substantially parallel to its planar bottom 36- when the foot shank pad 10 is laid out in the flat position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Furthermore, pad 26 is of uniform cross section all the way from side to side or transversely of the foot shank pad 10. It is preferably of trapezoidal form with equal interior acute angles, as is illustrated in FIG. 3. The foot shank pad extends from side to side or transversely of the cover material 28, and thus when positioned within a shoe transversely extends substantially from one side to the other of the upper. The transverse middle portion of the foot is the portion from the front of the heel to the base of the metatarsal arch, and it is this portion that is maintained raised by pad 10. The foot shank pad is so dimensioned that when it is fitted Within the shoe, pad 26 is positioned under the transverse middle portion of the foot with the rear face 38 of the pad and the cover material directly over the pad being positioned just at the forward edge of the heel so as to provide an anchor for the heel within the shoe. The pad 26 extends forward within and over the shank portion of the shoe from the face 38 and from a position just forward of the heel in the forward direction within the shoe to raise the transverse middle portion of the foot. It does not particularly act as support for the inner or outer longitudinal arches of the foot because it is of uniform thickness across the width of the shoe. The pad extends forward and terminates short of the anterior portion of the foot with its metatarsal transverse arch to permit the metatarsal arch to solidly contact the shoe inner sole. Preferably, the cover material 28 terminates just behind the base of the metatarsal arch.

When it is installed in a shoe, the foot shank pad thus occupies full width of the shoe and extends all the way back to the juncture between the inner sole and the rear of the upper so that it fully occupies the space under the heel of the foot. Rear face 38 is positioned just at the front of the heel and pad 26 is positioned under the transverse middle portion of the foot. The pad 26 and its cover material terminate to the rear of the metatarsal transverse arch. When so positioned within the shoe and when the shoe is worn, the first important factor is the retention of the heel rearwardly within the shoe by anchoring the heel by means of the rear face 38. The more important result is the maintaining of the transverse middle portion of the foot in the raised position. In walking, the weight first goes on the heel and then it is transferred forward as the anterior portion of the shoe and the foot contact the ground from the fifth to the first toe. The transfer of weight from the heel to the fifth toe is normally accompanied by elongation of the foot when the transverse middle portion of the foot is not maintained in the raised position, as it is by the pad 26 in the present situation. Additional elongation is normally present as the weight transfers from the fifth to the first toe. This also is prevented by means of maintaining the transverse middle portion in the raised position.

Of course, such elongation of the foot can cause binding of the toes and other anterior portions of the foot within the shoe, to thus cause uncomfortable Wearing. Thus, the use of the foot shank pad 10 permits the wearing of shoes without this uncomfortable contact of the toes against the toe of the shoe. The uniform cross section of the pad 26 across the foot shank pad 10 provides this raised support of the transverse middle portion of the foot without the necessity of contouring the pad for individual feet. However, the length of the pad in the rear to front direction within the shoe and along the general longitudinal length of the foot shank pad 10 is dependent upon the overall length of the foot. A relatively long pad is illustrated and it terminates well short of the metatarsal points so that proper metatarsal contact with the inner sole is provided.

This invention having been described in its preferred embodiment, it is clear it is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art and without the exercise of the inventive faculty. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is defined by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In foot shank pad, said foot shank pad comprising a pad element and a cover over said pad element, said foot shank pad being dimensioned to be positioned within a shoe on the innersole thereof for contact by the foot of a wearer, the improvement which comprises;

said cover being shaped so as to cover the innersole of a shoe including the shank thereof and having a heel and adapted to overlie the heel of the shoe and a front end located so as to be spaced heelwardly from the position within the shoe where the ball of a foot contacts the innersole of the shoe, said cover material also having sides which fit against the sides of the innersole of the shoe between said heel end and said front end;

said cover having upper surface of a layer of substantially smooth, synthetic polymer composition material and having a lower surface; said pad element being of a uniform longitudinal trapezoidal cross-sectional configuration prior to use and having an upper surface which is smaller than its lower surface and sloping ends connecting its upper and lower surfaces; the upper surface and the ends of said pad element being secured to the lower surface of said cover intermediate said heel end and said front end, said pad element extending between the sides of said cover from in front of the area normally occupied by the forward edge of a heel within said shoe to a position spaced from the area normally occupied by the anterior portion of a foot within said shoe so as to maintain the transverse middle portion of the foot in a raised position. 2. In a foot shank pad as claimed in claim 1 the improvement further comprises:

said cover including a layer of foam synthetic polymer composition material located at the undersurface of said cover, said layer of polymer composition material covering the entire undersurface of said cover;

said pad element being of a foam, synthetic polymer composition material and being secured to said layer of polymer composition material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,697,589 1/1929 Cort 36-44 X 2,748,502 6/1956 SChOll 36-44 3,143,812 8/1964 Bittner 36 44 3,253,600 5/1966 Scholl l28595 FOREIGN PATENTS 199,540 9/1958 Austria. 541,746 6/1957 Canada.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

